The Hero In All Of Us
by tarin2014tfan
Summary: Mikey's admiration for Donatello's intelligence never changes through the years.


**The Hero In All Of Us**

****Disclaimer**** \- I do not own TMNT or any of the characters therein. Some VERY rich dude does.  
****Rating**** \- Mature (Don't like. Do not read.)  
****Story Warnings**** \- Swearing, Emotional distress, Tcest, Fluff, Sexual innuendoes, Upset children, Mentions of child endangerment, Injury, Mentions of terrorist activity, (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)  
****Pairings**** \- Implications of OT4 (Don't like? Do not read.)  
****Universe**** \- 2003  
****Ages**** \- Different ages as the story progresses.

****Summary**** \- Mikey's admiration for Donatello's intelligence never changes through the years.

**The Hero In All Of Us**

It was a loud, piercing scream.

The kind of wail that grabbed the attention of whoever happened to hear it. A cry filled with pain, anguish, and heartache.

Five year old Donatello looked up from his book. He knew that sound. Knew it as well as he did his own voice.

He should, he heard it often enough.

Donnie slipped the scrap of cloth he used as a bookmark between the pages to mark his place. He carefully smoothed it down then closed his book. Copernicus could wait. His brother couldn't.

The young genius stepped out of the bedroom he shared with his brothers just in time to see Leo and Mikey walk around the corner heading his way.

Mikey was crying. Leo had one arm around the sea green tot's shoulders looking at the youngest with a sad and worried expression. Behind the pair trailed Raphael, carrying a tangled mess of plastic, metal, and wire.

"What happened, guys?" Donnie asked, concern filling his five year old voice.

Leo and Raph exchanged a momentary look. Mikey simply sniffled, rubbing at the tears on his cheeks.

"We had a bit of an accident," Leo began.

"I'd say we had a lot of an ac'ident," Raph held the broken mess out to Donnie. "A BIG lot of an ac'ident."

Donnie took a closer look at the pile his brother held. His heart dropped.

"That's not..."

"Can you fis it Don-ee?" Mikey sniffled.

Donnie took the broken mess from Raph. "What happened?" He looked up from the pile in his hands, "It looks like a ton of bricks fell on it."

"That's kinda what happened," Leo said sadly.

Donnie blinked at his oldest brother. "Huh?"

"We were playing at the dirt pile Dad said was safe for us to play at..." Leo began.

"And some dumb human opened the hole, and threw a bunch of junk down on us!" Raph growled, his arms crossed, and frowning for all he was worth.

Donnie's eyes grew huge. "You weren't seen, were you?"

"No!" Leo shook his head so fast his mask tails flew in the opposite direction his head was turning. "We ran to the hiding hole Dad made, and hid!"

Donnie sighed. "At least nobody saw you."

"You can fis it, right Don-ee?" Mikey asked again, still rubbing at his cheeks.

"I don't t'ink even Donnie can fix 'at, Mikey," Raph said gently, rubbing his baby brother's shell.

Little Mikey's lower lip began to tremble as tears welled back up in his baby blue eyes. "Don-ee..."

Donatello shifted the broken mass to the crook of one arm, draping the other around Mikey's shoulders. "I don't know if I can fix it, Mikey," he gave his little brother an affectionate squeeze. "But I'm going to try my best."

Three hours later, when Splinter walked through the entrance to their home, the rat daddy felt a rush of relief seeing his four sons quietly occupied, safe and sound.

Donatello was reading, per usual. Leonardo and Raphael were in the kitchen together, making a snack for themselves and their brothers. And Michelangelo was playing with the toy train his family had gifted to him on his birthday.

"I have a wonderful surprise for you my sons," Splinter called out, holding up a bag of fresh, unblemished apples he had found on a park bench.

Splinter couldn't help but grin as he was tackled by four excited turtle tots, their small voices calling out in excitement.

"Whatdija bring us, Dad?"

"Is it good to eat?"

"Can we play with it?"

"Daddy! Daddy! Look! See what Donnie did!" Little Mikey's voice rang out louder than his brothers'.

Splinter crouched down, pulling his smallest son close, and wrapping his tail around the other three. "Is that not the toy you received on your birthday?"

"Yeah!" Mikey bobbed his head in excitement. "But it got broked an' Don-ee fis-ed it! See!"

From the corner of his eye, Splinter noticed his genius son's face darken at his little brother's praise.

"It did?" Splinter's voice was filled with curiosity. "Then you must tell me of this exciting adventure while we eat."

"Okay!" Mikey's head bobbed even faster than before, if that were possible."You'll like it! It's an e-site-ing story!"

"Exciting, Mikey."

"Yeah!" Mikey's beamed at his purple banded brother. "Ya're so smart, Don-ee! I bet you can fis anything! Even a rainy day!"

Donnie's blush darkened. "I don't think I'm THAT smart, Mikey."

* * *

It had been a long battle.

No one had escaped without something to show for their night's activities. Enemy and ally alike.

The combined forces of the Foot clan, and Purple Dragons had taken the brunt of it; the majority of them wouldn't be walking home tonight.

Almost half would never walk again.

Unfortunately that very thought was what kept circling around in Leo's mind as his brother skillfully stitched closed the gash in his upper deltoid.

"If you don't stop tensing your neck, Leo. I'm going to sedate you," Donnie said with a mild hint of frustration.

The leader in blue turned to look at the family medic. "Sorry."

Donatello's only reply was a softly exhaled sigh.

Leo watched his brother's nimble fingers move the needle through the layers of leaf green skin before turning to stare at the two prone figures lying on the makeshift infirmary's cots.

"You think he'll be alright?"

Donnie's eyes glanced from his brother's injury to the sleeping turtles across the room. He knew which brother Leo was asking about, but chose to address both Raph's, and Mikey's conditions.

"Mikey should be up and about in a day, two at the most. He wasn't concussed, though I can't see how. I just want to make sure he has his equilibrium back before I let him go tearing all over the place."

Donnie put a few more stitches into his brother's skin, giving Leo time to process what he had just said.

"As for Raph," Donnie paused just a moment. "Time will tell." The snip of the scissors as Donnie cut the suture filled the silence of the infirmary. "He has to follow his recovery instructions, no matter how bored he gets."

"I'll make sure he does," Leo said softly.

There was a soft clink as Donnie place the scissors back on his instrument tray. "He'll have a lot of physical therapy to go through. And I do mean a LOT."

"He'll do it. He'll complain about it, but he'll do it." Leo drew a deep breath. "I'll make sure he does."

"If all goes well, he has an eighty-seven point nine percent chance of regaining full, unhindered use of his leg."

Leo nodded, never once taking his eyes from the sleeping emerald turtle. For some reason that percentage seemed low to him.

"You're good to go." Donnie placed the remnants of the roll of gauze on the instrument tray. He then pushed the wheeled stool he sat on around to face his oldest brother. "Leo, this wasn't you fault. Stop blaming yourself."

Donnie didn't so much as blink at the fierce scowl Leo turned his way.

"How is this NOT my fault, Donnie? How!?" Leo's voice rose as he spoke, forcing Donnie to silently remind him to keep it down. "How do you get this isn't my fault? Raph got hurt going after Mikey, and Mikey got hurt because I let half a dozen Foot soldiers get by me!"

Of all the injuries Donatello had had to deal with since he and his brothers began going topside, the hardest to fix were the injuries to Leonardo's sense of responsibility to his family.

"Hamato Leonardo." The purple turtle waited for the fact he had used his brother's full name to sink in. He almost laughed out loud when Leo finally realized it. "It is undeniable that you are an exceptional ninja. But, shocking though it may be, you are NOT perfect." Donnie's tone took all potential sting and insult from his words. "You can only do so much. You held back over fifty enemy fighters by yourself to give me time to get to Raph and Mikey."

Leo's eyes looked desperate as he stared at Donnie. "Okay. You make a valid point. But you forgot to mention I was also the one who let the Foot soldiers that started this whole chain reaction that ended with THAT," Leo motioned to his sleeping brothers across the room. "Get past our defenses to begin with."

"No," Donnie smiled, taking Leo's face in his hands. "I didn't forget. Did YOU forget the only reason they got past you was because you were protecting me so I would have time to diffuse that bomb of plastic explosive they had strapped to Congresswoman Smithers?"

Leo said nothing, caught up in his brother's impassioned words.

"Forty pounds of C-4, Leo. Do you have any idea what kind of destruction that much explosive would do? Because if you don't, I DO."

Donnie leaned in until his forehead touched his brother's.

"Thousands. You helped saved thousands tonight, Leo. All innocent. Many of them children. All because you were protecting me so I could do what only I could do. Tomorrow those people will wake up with no idea how close they came to dying during the night. And don't forget, we also saved a Congresswoman who is fighting for human rights on every level. She's making incredible progress, and has remained above corruption while doing it. She's a Godsend for additional thousands who will in time have better lives because of her work."

Donnie pressed a kiss to the spot where his forehead had rested against Leo's, ignoring the hot drops that pooled against his fingers.

"We all made it home alive. We'll heal. We'll adjust. We'll go out, and we'll do it all over again."

Donnie's voice dropped to a mere whisper as Leo's arms slipped around his shell. "For God's sake, Leo do NOT blame yourself for this! We would have died a dozen different times along the way tonight if not for you! Let it go, big brother. PLEASE! Let it go."

They sat, holding onto one another, giving and receiving comfort equally with only the quiet muffled sobs of a guilt ridden leader breaking the silence. After a time, Donnie pulled back, wiping the tears from Leo's face.

"Now," he said smiling. "You go over, and sit by Raph. Because Heaven knows if he doesn't wake up, and see you sitting there he's going to think you went and got yourself killed. Then I'll really have a mess on my hands because he'll want to kill you for scaring him."

"Sounds like him," Leo muttered.

Leo's mood had improved, but Donnie wanted a bit more improvement than he'd gotten.

"And now I need to go wash your snot off my plastron."

The genius knew his big brother was going to be just fine with the small chuckle Leo gave.

Leo couldn't help smiling. "Sorry."

"Go on," Donnie tipped his head towards the occupied cots. "I'm going to go get some food and stuff because when Mikey wakes up, he'll be hungry."

Leo's hand on his shoulder stopped the genius from standing. Donnie sat back down, wondering if his brother had another injury he had been trying to keep hidden.

"What about you, Don? Are you alright?" Leo asked.

A genuine, heartfelt smile spread across Donatello's face. "I'm fine, Leo. More than fine actually." He leaned in giving his brother another kiss to his forehead. "I had three of the greatest ninja in the world watching out for me tonight. Nothing even came close."

Leo waited until his purple banded brother disappeared around the corner before standing and moving on silent feet over to sit beside a sleeping Raphael.

"Feelin' better?"

One corner of Leo's mouth twitched, he should have known better than to think Raph was still sleeping. His hot-headed brother was almost as bad about constantly being on guard as he was.

"Yeah."

One amber eye slipped open, watching Leo with an amused glint.

"Don's pretty good at fixin' t'ings."

Leo nodded. "He is," he agreed.

From the second cot, a pair of baby blue eyes opened to stare affectionately at the two oldest turtles.

"Like I keep saying, guys. Donnie's so smart, he can fix a rainy day."

"Hardly." Leo, Raph, and Mikey looked over as Donnie set a tray heavily laden with food and drinks on top of one of the many counters spaced out along the wall. "Everything I do is based on science, research, and accumulated knowledge, Mikey." The family medic ran a hand over the top of Raph's head checking for fever. "Last time I checked, controlling the weather wasn't."

"Give it time," the youngest ninja said confidently. "Give it time."

* * *

It wasn't often Donnie was in a bad mood.

Whenever the genius turtle found circumstances to be frustrating, or upsetting, he simply researched the issue until knowledge and logic prevailed. Negative emotions didn't stand a chance in the face of unwavering determination, and the internet.

But now, given the dark scowl marring his olive toned features, Donatello wasn't simply in a bad mood. He was pissed. And to make matters worse, there was nothing, or no one for the genius turtle to unleash his building fury upon.

Today marked a milestone. It was the day Donnie and his brothers first become romantically involved.

The four brothers had experienced the unavoidable joys of puberty right on schedule in all of it's raging and unsatisfied glory. And being confined as they were, the four brothers had naturally experimented with one another as those desires increased. Everything had been good, deliriously good, until one rather loud, and randy night when they were eighteen.

Splinter had had to step in.

Their rat father explained things in no uncertain terms, much to their mortification, and humiliation.

They were not human. And as non-humans they should not be forced to live as humans in all things. They have had to deal with conditions humans did not, mainly their animal instincts, and the unfortunate lack of females of their own kind.

It was highly unlikely human women would seriously consider the notion of a sexual encounter with them, given that male turtles were extremely well endowed in comparison to their size. The four brothers were no exception. In other words, as Splinter had so succinctly put it, no human woman would want a 'dingily-dong' that big going up her for fear of splitting in half.

To this day Mikey still burst out laughing whenever they passed the snack cake aisle on grocery runs.

Armed with his father's blessing, Donatello had done what he did best. He researched. After having accumulated as much information as he possibly could, the genius turtle took action. In the end, he had presented his brothers with a wide variety of sexual accessories which had surprised Raphael, embarrassed Leo, thrilled Mikey, and lead to things Donatello hadn't begun to imagine.

Having at long last acquired three willing, and very accommodating life partners, Mikey wanted the whole nine yards; dates, courtship, weddings, promises, anniversaries, handcuffs, and whips and chains.

His brothers, secretly wanting MOST of those same experiences, set out to give the youngest turtle exactly what he asked for.

Today was their anniversary, and Donnie didn't appreciate having his plans ruined by rain.

To make matters worse, it wasn't just raining; it was raining cats and dogs.

Damn it all to the tenth level of Hell! It was raining tigers and wolves!

"Not on MY watch!"

Leo stepped out of the bedroom shared by he and his brothers just in time to see a very grumpy Donatello stomping across the living room of their apartment.

"Something wrong?" he asked cautiously.

"In fifteen minutes there won't be!" Donnie's sentence was punctuated with added emphasis by the slamming of the front door, making Leo flinch involuntarily.

A mad Donatello was a scary Donatello.

"Don't take it personal," Raph's deep voice rumbled out with the steam as the emerald turtle exited the bathroom. "It's rainin'."

Leo's eyeridges furrowed in a slight frown. "A little rain never hurt anything."

"This is Donnie we're talkin' 'bout," the red banded brawler tossed over his shoulder heading for the kitchen.

"True," Leo sighed, following his brother.

"Who's hungry?" Mikey called out cheerfully as Leo and Raph entered the kitchen.

"I am," Raph grinned, taking a seat. "What're we havin'?"

"Everybody's favorites! Waffles, pancakes, sausages," Mikey thumped platter after platter on the table as he continued with his menu. "Eggs, bacon, toast, biscuits, gravy, potatoes." The sea green turtle paused in his serving. "Where's Donnie?"

Raph pointed in the general direction of the front door, mumbling something unintelligible around a mouthful of pancake.

Leo raised an eyeridge at his emerald toned brother before answering Mikey's question. "He went downstairs. My guess would be to his lab."

"But..." Mikey stared wide eyed at the front door as if willing his absentee brother to instantly reappear. "Why!? It's our anniversary! There's no working on our anniversary! He KNOWS that!"

"I don't t'ink he's workin', Mike," Raph hoped he sounded more reassuring to his baby brother then he did to himself.

"Of course he's not," Leo was quick to jump in and help his emerald brother.

Mikey thumped the coffee carafe he was holding down on the table. Leo and Raph were both surprised it didn't start leaking from the force of Mikey's frustration.

"Then why'd he go?!"

"Because it was raining when I got up this morning." Donnie calmly walked through the kitchen doorway, taking a seat at the table. "Raph, pass the biscuits, please."

All three turtles watched in stunned silence as their genius brother went about fixing his breakfast. The spell was broken when Donnie took his first bite, smiling around his fork at his brothers.

Mikey ran for the big floor to ceiling bay window, throwing open the drapes. Sunlight streamed in, momentarily blinding the three sitting at the table.

"I'll be damned," Raph muttered.

"Mh-hm," Leo hummed in agreement.

"You guys are dorks," Mikey said, a huge grin on his face. "I always said Donnie was so smart he could fix anything. Even a rainy day."

"Now Mikey," Donnie smiled around the rim of his coffee mug. "How many times must I tell you, don't exaggerate."

* * *

Thanks for reading.


End file.
